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Vibrating Water Pipes

hello,
i live in the bottom of a duplex. for the past two weeks the water pipes have been vibrating 16 out of 24 hours a day. the only time the vibrating ceases is when a toilet is flushed or a shower is running.
how can this be stopped?
thnx!

Re: Vibrating Water Pipes

Originally Posted by myming

hello,
i live in the bottom of a duplex. for the past two weeks the water pipes have been vibrating 16 out of 24 hours a day. the only time the vibrating ceases is when a toilet is flushed or a shower is running.
how can this be stopped?
thnx!

You may want the super to check the vent on the roof for clogs.
Its a long shot but its possible thats doing it. I've seen stranger things happen.

Re: Vibrating Water Pipes

If flushing the toilet stops this vibration.........try opening one of your cold water faucets for a couple seconds and then setting it to drip just a tad.... so that it produces a drop every few seconds or so. Does this stop the vibration? If that does stop the noise, then it would sound like something is causing a high pressure problem.

If you don't own this duplex, call whomever does and tell them. It may be that some plumbing work has been done recently that caused the problem or perhaps a pressure-reducing valve on the main supply has failed, etc. Whatever the cause of the problem, the sooner it's found and eliminated, the better. Vibration will stress the pipes and joints, greatly shortening their life expectancy. If a joint fails and leaks, there will be water damage. If no one is home to catch it and turn off the main supply, the collateral damage to the house could be significant... to say the least.

If the problem isn't literally constant, but rather occasinally/frequently throughout the day/night....and only running your shower or flushing the toilet stops the noise.......then it would seem like the problem may be isolated to the cold water supply pipe that feeds your bathroom. That could then be caused by water hammer in that particular pipe. If that supply pipe is shared with your nieghbors, every time they open and shut down a faucet, etc on said line.......water hammer would result. It wouldn't likely be a constant vibration, just periodic, so to speak. If this is the case, then installing a water-hammer arrestor in said line should end the problem.........or recharging an existing one with air again.

If this started when any existing boiler fired up for the season.....the cause of the problem could be much more complicated.